Shuttle control mechanism



Sept. 12, 1961 E. c. NICHOLS ETAL SHUTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 28, 1959 INVENTOR-S E0 WARD G. NICHOLS.CHARLESPPUWELL.

ATTORNEY p 1 E. c. NICHOLS ET AL 2,999,515

SHUTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28, 1959 m a :mmPGEGOI. VDS mg M y m e N m 9 T m 6 Y 0 P \\G A TTORNE Y P 1961 E. c.NICHOLS ETAL 2,999,516

SHUTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 28, 1959 INVENTORSEDWARD 6. NICHOLS. C/mRLEs F? POWELL Sept. 12, 1961 E. c. NICHOLS ET AL2,999,515

SHUTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 28, 1959 INVENTORSEDWARD 0. NICHOLS. C'HA mas R Po WEL 1.

5% Arm ,55%

2,999,516 SHUTTLE C'QNTRQL MECHANISM Edward (I. Nichols, Upton, andCharles P. Powell, West Medway, Mass, assignors to Draper Corporation,Hopedale, Mass, a corporation of Maine Filed May 23, 1959, Ser. No.816,518 15 Claims. (Cl. 139-455) This invention relates to looms forweaving, and, in particular, to a shuttle positioning mechanism forautomatic looms. V

It is a general object of the invention to provide a mechanism effectiveto position a shuttle in a shuttle box very accurately and in a positivemanner.

It is a more specific object to provide a shuttle boxing means for flyshuttle looms which is effective, after the shuttle has entered thatboxing means and after the shuttle has been initially arrested in itsmotion, to move the shuttle to an extreme position outwardly of the loombefore the shuttle is picked to the opposite side of the loom, therebyto position the shuttle very definitely at a precise reference point ina shuttle box on either side of the loom and in the identical positionon successive picks of the shuttle into the shuttle box.

A further object is that of providing mechanism in a shuttle boxingmeans which shall be effective to correct for short picks, rebounding ofthe shuttle and general inaccuracy of boxing at each entry of theshuttle into th box so that at the next pick and at transfer, theshuttle shall always be at a definite and optimum position in its box.

It is a further object to eliminate entirely the use of check straps,thereby also dispensing with the need of periodic adjustment andreplacement of these straps.

Other objects will be apparent from the description which follows.

One of the major problems in weaving on automatic fly shuttle looms isimproper shuttle boxing which is usually due to a short pick or arebounding of the shuttle after it strikes the picker and has moved asfar as it can toward the end of the lay. Such a condition is primarilyresponsible for the so-called bang-off, which is a fairly commonoccurrence wherever a large number of looms are involved and fairlyfrequent in smaller installations. Practically all looms are equippedwith mechanical stop means to effect a very sudden stopping of the loomupon an indication of improper shuttle boxing in order to preventotherwise very serious damage to the loom parts as well as tearing outof large numbers of warp threads. These bang-oils can becostly in thatweaving time is lost, the work load of the loom fixer is increased, andoccasionally loom parts are damaged and have to: be replaced.

Improper shuttle boxing is further responsible for irregular transfer ofbobbins into the shuttle. Bobbins are conventionally equipped withmetallic rings on their butts which are engageable within grooves in theshuttle spring as the bobbin is transferred into the shuttle. If ashuttle is not accurately positioned in its box at the replenishing sideof the loom at the time of transfer, a two-ring or even a one-ringcondition may result whereby only two or only one ring may be held bythe spring. The resultant variation in the locati n of the free end ofthe bobbin from the shuttle threading block or eye produces acorresponding increase in tension of the filling thread due to theincreased angle at which it leaves the bobbin. This is undesirable inthat these changes in tension are reflected in the fabric being woven.Also, a oneor two-ring condition increases wear on the spring and isoften responsible for a shuttle flying out of the loom.

Improper boxing at the left side of the loom is further undesirable inthat it leads to a false indication by the filling feeler mechanism toeffect setting up the loom parts for transfer when too much or toolittle filling thread is left on the bobbin in the shuttle.

According to the invention, these disadvantages are overcome byproviding a mechanism which acts, after the shuttle has been picked intothe box, to move that shuttle to its extreme possible position in theshuttle box in a direction outwardly of the loom. Mechanism has beenprovided whereby the shuttle box is reciprocated lengthwise of the lay,first, in a direction outwardly of the loom after the shuttle has beenreceived by the box, and then, after the shuttle has been picked in adirection inwardly of the loom in readiness to again receive theshuttle. The amount of reciprocation in one direction is slightlygreater than either the maximum rebound or the amount by which theshuttle is not fully boxed which is normally encountered in order toassure that the final atrest position will be identical on every pickinto that shuttle box.

Reciprocation of the shuttle box lengthwise of the loom is accomplishedby connecting the box to a lever system which is actuated by aconstantly rotating cam in timed sequence with the lay and pick motion.Movement of the shuttle box laterally of its supporting structure isprevented by the provision of an extending rod member affixed parallelto the shuttle box which is slid-ably guided by a linear type bearingfixed to the supporting structure.

An additional advantage of the invention is that it makes possible thecomplete elimination of check straps and their attendant periodicadjustment or replacement, which in itself is a substantial savings.

Further advantages will be evident from the following description anddrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a loom with parts removedtherefrom and showing the invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the right side shuttle box of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a portion of FIG. 1 as seen fromthe right side thereof;

FIG. 4 is identical to FIG. 3 but looking from the reverse side thereof;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the cam shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 foreffecting reciprocation of the shuttle box lengthwise of the lay;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of a modified form of the inventionapplied to a loom employing a fixed type shuttle box;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 7 and looking in thedirection of the arrows; and

FIG. 9 is a side elevational View of the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 asseen from the right side thereof.

In FIG. 1 the invention is seen as applied to a shuttle box of the typewhich is a part of and swings to and fro with the lay, although, as willbe described hereinafter with respect to FIGS. 6 to 9, the shuttle boxmay be of the fixed type which does not move with the lay. The inventionis most advantageously applied to both sidesof the loom as seen in FIG.1 and since the two sides are complementary in that one is a mirrorimage of the other, a description of one will sufi'ice to convey acomplete understanding of the invention. r

The loom lay is shown at 10 and left and right hand loomsides at 11 and12, respectively. A cam shaft 13, pick motion 14, picker stick 15,parallel motion 16, and picker 17 are conventional parts of the loom.

In FIG. 2 the right hand shuttle box is denoted by the arrow 18 andcomprises a front box plate 19 and rear binder 29. The front box plateis fixed at one end to a J-shaped bracket member 21 by retaining means212. Extending forwardly of its opposite end the front box plate hasfixed thereto a pair of projections 23 and 24 3 supporting a rod member25 held stationary therebetween by cap screws 26 and 27 threaded intoopposite ends of the rod. The latter is slidable in an opening in alinear type bearing 28 fixed to the forward side of the lay. The rearbinder 20 is pivoted at one end to the bracket 21 at 29 and its oppositeend is biased toward the front box plate by means of a leaf spring 30which is mounted on an extension at the back side of the bracket 21. Theback box plate 31 acts as a guide for the shuttle 32 as the latter ispicked into the box. A rubber stop 33 is fastened to the lay end toreceive the impact of the picker stick 15 and also acts as an aid inpositioning the shuttle as will be explained. A second rubber stop 34 isattached by a bracket member 35 to the underside of the lay and limitsmovement of the picker stick in the opposite direction after it ispicked. Thus, it may be seen that the whole shuttle box is freelymounted on the lay and can be reciprocated lengthwise thereof withincertain limits. i

The mechanism for effecting such reciprocation will now be described. InFIG. 3 a yoke 36 has an arm 37 which is pivotally mounted at 38 to thefront box plate and a second arm 39 pivotally mounted at 40 to thebracket '21 in line with the pivot at 38. The yoke is pivoted at itslower end at 4-1 to a fixed bracket 42 extending over the end of thelay. A third arm 43 extends from the yoke inwardly of the loom (seeFIG. 1) and is connected by means of a Heim, Unibal or other suitablebearing 44 to one end of an adjustable link member 45. The other end ofthe latter is similarly connected to one arm 47 of a bell crank lever 48which is fixedly pivoted at 49 to a stationary part of the loom. A camfollower 50 is rotatably mounted on the end of the second arm 51 of thebell crank lever and is actuated by a cam 52 mounted on the loom camshaft 53 to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction thereby asindicated by the arrow in FIG. 3. A spring S maintains contact betweenfollower and cam. A pair of cam segments 54 are fixed to the cam andserve to cam the follower toward the low side of the cam. The cam, asseen on enlarged scale in FIG. is shaped and located on the shaft so asto move the shuttle box to an extreme position to the right as indicatedby the dotted line position in FIG. 4 at a time just prior to picking ofthe shuttle from the box and to move the box in the opposite directionjust after the shuttle has been picked and to be held in this latterposition until the shuttle is again received by the box. In FIG. 4primes refer to similar elements of FIG. 3.

In a modification of the mechanism as shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, theinvention is seen as applied to a fixed type shuttle box, that is, onethat does not reciprocate with the lay, and 'wherein the front binder ispivoted instead of the rear one as 'in FIGS. 1 to 5. In FIG. 6 the layis shown at 55 and the shuttle box assembly is mounted on a fixedhorizontal support member 56. The box comprises a rear plate 57 andfront binder 58. The former is fixed at one end to the bracket 59 byretaining means '60 and has extending rearwardly adjacent its oppositeend a pair of projections 61 and '62 supporting a rod member 63 slidablein a linear type bearing 64 fixed to the support member 56, all in amanner similar to that of FIG. 2. The front binder is double pivoted atone end at 65 and 66 and is biased intermediate its ends toward the rearbox plate by means of a rubber torsional bushing, generally indicated bythe arrow 67, mounted on the support member 56 and having two arms 68and 69, each of which bears against one of a pair of angularly disposedfiat surface portions 70 and 71, respectively, on the front face of thefront binder. An enlarged crosssection of the bushing is shown in FIG. 8and comprises a rubber bushing 72 split intermediate its ends andmaintained in a tight fit against a central sleeve 73 by means of a pairof flat ring members 74 and 75 to which are attached the arms 68 and 69,respectively. Thus, here also, the shuttle box is slidably mounted uponits supporting member and is reciprocated lengthwise thereof by a leversystem similar to that of FIGS. 1 to 5. Here, however, a connection ismade to the rear plate intermediate thereof which includes a link member76 having one end fixedly pivoted to the back plate at 77 and its otherend freely pivoted at 78 to one arm 79 of a bell crank lever. The latteris pivoted on an extension from the underside of the support member 56at 80 and has a second arm 81 which is connected to an adjustable linkmember 82. The other end of the link 82 is further pivoted to one arm 83of a member which is pivoted intermediate its ends at 84 to a stationarypart of the loom and which has a second arm 85 having a cam follower 86rotatably mounted at its end adapted to be actuated by a cam 87 mountedon the cam shaft 88. A spring 89 maintains contact between the followerand cam.

The operation of the mechanism will now be described with respect toFIGS. 1 to 5, it being understood that the modification of FIGS. 6 to 9functions similarly except that the shuttle box in that instance ismounted on a fixed mernber. As the shuttle 32 is picked from the leftside of the loom into the shuttle box 18, the latter is in a positionremoved from its extreme right position by a distance of about an inchas determined by the cam 52 and its associated lever system. As theshuttle enters the box, it is placed under lateral tension due to theforce exerted by the binder spring 30 and protector rod system P uponthe rear binder. The shuttle normally enters the box, strikes the picker17 and both move to an extreme position to the right substantially atthe end of flight of the shuttle, but the shuttle almost always eitherrebounds from the picker a slight amount, usually not more than one-halfof an inch, or else is not fully boxed due to a short pick. At this timethe shuttle box is frictionally engaged with the shuttle and is movingtoward the right taking the shuttle along with it until the latter againstrikes the picker and moves as far as it can toward the end of the lay.The box then continues to move toward the right slidding along the sidesof the shuttle until the box has moved the full distance marked X inFIG. 2. The shuttle is then picked from this fully boxed position andthe same procedure takes place at the left side of the loom. In the caseof the fixed type shuttle box of FIGS. *6 to 9, this further movement ofthe shuttle box after the shuttle has reached its predeterminedreference point acts to relieve tension applied to the shuttle due tothe angular displacement of surfaces 70 and 71. Of course, such afeature may also be applied to the species shown in FIGS. 1 to 5.

While one embodiment and a modification of the invention have beendisclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive concept may becarried out in a number of ways. This invention is, therefore, not to belimited to the precise details described, but is intended to embrace allvariations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the claims.

We claim:

1. In a fly shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxing means at oppositeends of said lay, a shuttle movable along said lay and adapted to bearrested by said shuttle boxing means, the improvement which comprisesmeans in contact with both sides of said shuttle effective to move saidshuttle outwardly of said lay to a predetermined position after saidshuttle has been picked into said boxing means.

2. In a fly shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxing means at oppositeends of said lay, a shuttle movable along said lay and adapted to bearrested by said shuttle boxing means, the improvement which comprisesmeans for effecting reciprocation of said boxing means lengthwise of thelay.

3. In a fiy shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxing means at oppositeends of said lay, a shuttle movable along said lay and adapted to bearrested by said shuttle boxing means, the improvement which comprisesmeans effective to move said shuttle in a direction outwardly of saidlay after said shuttle has been picked into said boxing means andfurther effective to reciprocate said boxing means lengthwise of saidlay.

4. In a fly shuttle loom, a lay, a shuttle reciprocable along said lay,shuttle boxing means, and means for reciprocating said boxing meanslengthwise of said lay which comprises a continuously rotating cammeans, and means fixed to said boxing means adapted to be actuated bysaid cam means.

5. In a fly shuttle loom, a lay, a shuttle reciprocable along said lay,shuttle boxing means, and means for reciprocating said boxing meanslengthwise of said lay which comprises a continuously rotating cam, afollower actuated by said cam, and lever means connecting said followerto a yoke member fixed to an end of said boxing means.

6. The mechanism of claim 5 wherein said boxing means has a forwardlyextending rod member affixed parallel thereto, said rod member beingslidable in a bearing fastened to the lay, thereby to prevent lateraldisplacement of said boxing means with respect to said lay.

7. The mechanism of claim 5 wherein said boxing means is fixed so thatit has no movement in a lateral direction.

8. In a fly shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxes at opposite ends ofsaid lay into and from which a shuttle may be picked, means forming apart of said shuttle boxes for arresting the shuttle as it entersthereinto, said shuttle boxes each being mounted to reciprocatelengthwise of said lay at predetermined intervals.

9. In a fly shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxes'at opposite ends ofsaid lay into and from which a shuttle may be picked, means forming apart of said shuttle boxes for arresting the shuttle as it enters a box,said shuttle boxes being movable endwise of the lay and means for movingeach said box toward the outer end of the lay after the shuttle hasentered it and substantially all the kinetic energy in the shuttledissipated.

10. The mechanism of claim 8 wherein said shuttle boxes are supported bythe lay at each end thereof so as to reciprocate with said lay.

11. The mechanism of claim 8 wherein said shuttle boxes are supported bystationary means at opposite ends and independently of said lay.

12. The mechanism of claim 10 wherein said shuttle boxes each have aforwardly extending rod member affixed parallel thereto, said rod memberbeing slidable in a bearing fastened to the lay end, thereby to preventlateral displacement of said shuttle boxes with respect to said lay.

13. The mechanism of claim 11 wherein said shuttle boxes each have arearwardly extending rod member affixed parallel thereto, said rodmember being slidable in a bearing fastened to said stationary means,thereby to prevent lateral displacement between said shuttle boxes andsaid supporting means.

14. In the method of weaving in a fly shuttle loom, the steps of pickinga shuttle into a shuttle box to be frictionally engaged thereby toarrest movement of said shuttle, then moving said shuttle box andshuttle endwise outwardly to a predetermined reference point from whichthe shuttle is picked, and continuing movement of the shuttle box whilethe shuttle is held at said reference point.

15. In the method of weaving in a lily shuttle loom, the steps ofpicking a shuttle into a shuttle box to be frictionally engaged therebyto arrest movement of said shuttle, then moving said shuttle box andshuttle endwise outwardly to a predetermined reference point, andpicking said shuttle from said reference point.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,868,128 Badia July 19, 1932 2,012,051 Payne Aug. 20, 1935

